Voterama in Congress for the week of Dec. 14

Monday

Dec 17, 2012 at 11:09 AM

WASHINGTON — Here’s how North Carolina members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending Dec. 14.

HouseOZONE LAYER DEPLETION: Voting 229 for and 182 against, the House on Dec. 12 failed to reach a two-thirds majority needed to pass a bill (HR 6190) allowing the sell-off of inventories of a certain asthma inhaler that has been banned from sale since Dec. 31, 2011, because its chlorofluorocarbon emissions damage the ozone layer. The product is Primatene Mist, a “CFC epinephrine” inhaler manufactured by Armstrong Pharmaceuticals. This bill would legalize the sale of existing stocks of more than one million units through July 2013. The Environmental Protection Agency has banned the sale of Primatene Mist and more than a dozen other inhalers containing CFCs under a U.S. law that implements the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.A yes vote was to pass the bill.Voting yes: Republicans Renee Ellmers, Walter Jones, Virginia Foxx, Howard Coble, Sue Myrick and Patrick McHenry and Democrats Mike McIntyre, Larry Kissell and Heath Shuler Voting no: Democrats G.K. Butterfield, David Price, Melvin Watt and Brad Miller

PROTECTION OF AFGHAN WOMEN: Voting 399 for and four against, the House on Dec. 13 called upon the U.S. military to step up efforts to ensure the rights and physical safety of women and girls in Afghanistan during and after the ongoing transition of power from coalition to Afghan security forces. With this non-binding vote, members endorsed language to protect Afghan women and girls that is in the Senate version but not the House version of the fiscal 2013 military authorization bill (HR 4310). Now in a House-Senate conference committee, the $631.6 billion military budget was expected to receive final congressional passage within days.The four members voting against the measure to protect Afghan women and girls are Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich., Walter Jones, R-N.C., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ron Paul, R-Texas.A yes vote backed the amendment.Voting yes: Butterfield, Ellmers, Price, Foxx, Coble, McIntyre, Kissell, Myrick, McHenry, Shuler, Watt, Miller Voting no: Jones

SenateUNLIMITED DEPOSIT INSURANCE: Voting 50 for and 42 against, the Senate on Dec. 13 failed to advance a bill (S 3637) to extend the Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) Program through 2014. This effectively ends the program, which was begun during the 2008 financial collapse as a temporary measure to boost liquidity in a failing banking system. TAG provides unlimited federal deposit insurance - above the standard cap of $250,000 per depositor per institution -- for non-interest-bearing accounts held by large corporations, small businesses, local governments, non-profits and wealthy individuals in banks and credit unions. Businesses typically use these checking accounts to meet recurring expenses such as payroll. Participating financial institutions, not taxpayers, cover the cost of the program.A yes vote was to advance the bill.Voting yes: Democrat Kay Hagan Voting no: Republican Richard Burr

Looking aheadIn the week of Dec. 17, both chambers will take up the conference report on the fiscal 2013 defense budget. They also may vote on a “fiscal cliff” bill, aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy and the Violence Against Women Act, among other measures. House and Senate leaders say Congress will not adjourn this year until it has resolved fiscal issues.